


How Far We'll Go

by IronWoman359



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Fluff, Homework Partners to Lovers, M/M, Parental Moxiety - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-02
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-13 03:15:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29146539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IronWoman359/pseuds/IronWoman359
Summary: A Remix of DramaticGarbage (@not-so-innocent-bi-sander on tumblr)'s absolutely adorable fic It Just Dad to Be You. In that story, college students Virgil and Roman are assigned to work on a group project together and find themselves falling in love. Also in that story, Roman is a single father of four year old Patton. In this remix, we explore what their love story would have looked like...if Virgil were Patton’s father.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Morality | Patton Sanders
Comments: 10
Kudos: 82
Collections: TSS Fanworks Collective Discord: January Remix Challenge!





	How Far We'll Go

**Author's Note:**

  * For [DramaticGarbage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DramaticGarbage/gifts).
  * Inspired by [It Just Dad to be You](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26692960) by [DramaticGarbage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DramaticGarbage/pseuds/DramaticGarbage). 
  * In response to a prompt by [DramaticGarbage](https://archiveofourown.org/users/DramaticGarbage/pseuds/DramaticGarbage) in the [tss_fanworks_collective_discord_january_remix_challenge](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/tss_fanworks_collective_discord_january_remix_challenge) collection. 



> This was for the TSS Fanworks Collective discord server January Fanfic Remix challenge, and I had TONS of fun righting it! Make sure you read Jordan’s original story, it’s flippin’ adorable, and it was a joy to reimagine!

“Alright, bye now, Pattycake,” Virgil said, waving goodbye to his son. “Be good for Miss Rachael.” 

“I will!” Patton exclaimed, before wrapping his arms around Virgil’s legs. Virgil barely had time to return the hug before Patton let go and scampered away towards the art table in the daycare center. 

Virgil waved one more time, then readjusted his grip on his backpack and hurried out the door. Luckily, the daycare was a short walk from his university campus, and he managed to make it to his next class only a few minutes late. 

The professor waved him over as he entered the room, and Virgil had to fight the impulse to shrink into his hoodie. He was very fortunate that this professor in particular understood his situation, but that did little to soothe the jump in anxiety he experienced every time he didn’t make it to class on time. 

“Ah, Virgil, perfect timing,” said the professor. “We’ve just split up into pairs to complete this next project. I think….” she paused, glancing around the room. “Yes, there’s one person left who does not have a partner. Mr. Prince?” she called, gesturing at a student to join them. 

Virgil fought the urge to groan aloud at the mention of group work. The last thing he needed on top of everything else going on in his life was to try and fit working with a total stranger on a project that he’d more than likely be capable of doing all on his own.

“Hi there! Virgil, right?” the stranger in question said, pulling Virgil from his thoughts. 

Virgil looked up to respond, and his heart unexpectedly skipped a beat in his chest. The guy was...well, to be honest, a total knockout. Stunning green eyes, soft brown hair that managed to both look effortless and meticulously styled, and a smile showing off perfect teeth all joined forces to send Virgil’s brain spiraling into Gay Disaster Mode. 

“Y-yeah, that’s me,” he stammered. 

“Nice to meet you! I’m Roman.” 

The guy, Roman, held out his hand, and Virgil managed to shake it without making a complete fool of himself. 

“So, let me get you up to speed on this project,” Roman said, before launching into a recap of everything Virgil had missed from the first ten minutes or so of class. Luckily, the project didn’t seem like it’d be that unbearable to work on, even if Roman ended up flaking and leaving all the work for Virgil. Though the more they talked about their plans, the less Virgil thought that Roman would be the type to dump all the work on a partner. He was enthusiastic, contagiously so, and full to bursting with creative ideas on how they could approach their project. Virgil even found himself slightly optimistic about working together.

“So, I think the library would probably be the best place to meet, yeah? What times are you free?” 

Reality slammed back into Virgil’s brain with that one sentence, and he barely suppressed a wince. He’d almost forgotten why he hated group work so much in the first place. 

“I can’t meet in the library,” he said, forcing himself to make eye contact so Roman would know he was serious. “Weekdays I need to pick up my son by five, and on weekends I have him all day.” 

He waited for the questions to start. 

Why can’t he just stay at daycare longer? 

Can’t someone else watch him for you? 

It’s not fair for us to have to work our entire schedules around yours, why are you being so difficult?

It was the same story every time. Virgil would explain that he couldn’t afford more hours at the daycare, that there was no one who could help him with Patton, and that His partner would half-heartedly try to work it out with him, but would inevitably wind up just dumping a collaborative google doc on him and barely talking to him for the rest of the project. And half the time _that_ approach meant Virgil would have to do the entire project on his own, on top of all his other homework and taking care of Patton. 

“Oh, that’s right, you’re a dad,” Roman said. “What place works best for you, then?” 

Virgil blinked. That wasn’t the response he’d been expecting. 

“I mean, I know it’s a pain, but like...my apartment is really the best place to work for me. That way I can keep an eye on him and still get things done.” 

Virgil again waited to hear complaints about the situation, but Roman just smiled another one of his perfect smiles.

“Sounds good to me! Text me the address?” 

They made plans to meet Saturday afternoon, and Virgil left the class that day with the ball of anxiety coiled in his chest a little bit looser than normal. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. 

* * *

Virgil’s cautious optimism evaporated the moment he got home that evening. He hung Patton’s backpack on its hook on the wall, deposited his little shoes in the pile by the door, and stared at the absolute dumpster fire that was his apartment. Toys and clothes were haphazardly strewn across the floor, the sink was overflowing with dirty pots, plates, and sippy cups, and the slightly wobbly kitchen table was piled high with papers that ranged from unpaid bills and half completed homework assignments to Patton’s extremely colorful artwork. 

_Shit_. 

It was Friday, there was no way he was going to get the place clean by the time Roman was coming over at three tomorrow. He’d just have to do as much damage control as he could until then and hope that Roman wouldn’t lose patience with the situation too quickly. 

Virgil sat down and started sifting through the mountain of papers that covered the kitchen table. If nothing else, he could at least make sure he and Roman had a clean surface to work on. 

“Daddy?” 

Virgil looked down and couldn’t help but smile as Patton stared up at him with his large blue eyes. 

“Yes, Pattycake?” he asked, reaching down and running a hand through Patton’s mussy curls. 

“What’re you doing?” 

“I’m cleaning up the table. Someone from school is coming over tomorrow to help me, and I want to make sure we have room to work.” 

“Oh! Can I help?” 

“Sure thing, sweet pea,” Virgil said, hoisting Patton up onto his lap. “Why don’t you help by figuring out which of these papers are yours and putting them in a pile over here?” 

“Okie dokie!” Patton chirped, and Virgil handed him a page.

“What do you think, is this yours, or Daddy’s?” 

It took the two of them slightly longer to clean the table than it would have if Virgil were on his own, mostly because at every picture they found, Patton would stop and tell a story about what was going on in the drawing, but Virgil found that it was hard to complain about anything with his son babbling away happily in his lap. 

Eventually, he managed to get Patton to go and play “ _how many toys can you pick up in ten minutes_ ” so that he could spend that amount of time making a dent in the amount of dishes in the sink. The rest of the evening passed in much the same way, with Virgil coming up with various “games” that the two could play that would _also_ ensure that when Roman came over tomorrow to work, it wouldn’t be in a total pigsty. 

By Patton’s bathtime, most of the toys had been played with and then put away, the dirty clothes were piled in their hamper, the kitchen table was at least workable, and the pile of dishes in the sink had shrunk to a much more manageable amount. Virgil had hoped that once Patton was down for the night he’d be able to return and finish sorting his papers, but by the time he’d managed to get Patton out of his bath, wrestled him into his pajamas and tucked him into bed, he was almost too exhausted to read Patton his bedtime story. By the time Virgil placed a kiss on Patton’s forehead, checked the closet for monsters twice, and switched off the light, he was nearly dead on his feet. 

He entered his own room, and didn’t bother changing into his own pajamas before letting himself fall into bed, closing his eyes and willing the worries swirling around in his mind to dissolve away. There would be enough time tomorrow to finish cleaning up. And even if the place wasn’t clean, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. After all, it’s not like he was the only parent of a toddler who had a bit of a messy place. Roman would get that, wouldn’t he? He’d been pretty understanding of Virgil's need to meet here instead of somewhere on campus, afterall. And if Roman _was_ a jerk about the whole thing, then it just proved that he wasn’t worth Virigl’s effort in the first place. Because anyone who was an asshole about Patton was someone Virgil wanted nothing to do with at all. 

* * *

By the time Roman showed up at 3:00pm on the dot, Virgil was not, in fact, finished cleaning up. The place looked better than it had last night, sure, but the fact still remained that a four-year-old lived here. And four-year-olds, even four-year-olds as well behaved as Patton, tended to make messes. 

“Thanks for agreeing to meet here,” Virgil said as Roman came in and hung up his coat. “Sorry about the mess. I tried to straighten up a bit for you, but…” Virgil trailed off, gesturing helplessly to the living room which was once again, despite his best efforts to have Patton pick up after himself that day, covered in toys. 

“Don’t worry man, I get it,” Roman said with an easy smile. 

A small gasp was heard across the room, and before Virgil even had a chance to warn Roman, Patton came dashing over to the pair of them. 

“Hi! You’re Daddy’s school friend! My name’s Patton Weaver, what’s yours? Do you want a hug? It’s okay if not, we can high five!” 

Patton said this all very quickly, then looked up at Virgil with wide eyes, scanning his face for approval. Virgil smiled down at him, and ruffled his hair. 

“Good job, Patty,” he whispered, before looking back to Roman. “Sorry, we’re working on personal space right now, and-” 

Roman cut him off by getting down on one knee so he’d be at Patton’s eye level. 

“It’s wonderful to meet you, Patton! My name is Roman Prince, and I’d love a hug!” 

Patton squealed with excitement and immediately wrapped his arms around Roman’s neck. Roman chuckled as he returned the embrace and smiled up at Virgil, whose heart was _not_ doing a spontaneous gymnastics routine, thank you very much. 

“Okay, Pattycake, why don’t you go color while Roman and I get some work done?” 

“Can I listen to Disney?” Patton asked as he let Roman out of his hug. 

“Sure, bud, let me set it up for you.” 

After getting his tablet to play Patton’s favorite Disney playlist in the living room, Virgil came back to join Roman at the kitchen table. 

“He’s a child of impeccable taste,” Roman said, nodding sagely as the opening notes of _How Far I’ll Go_ drifted across the room. 

“Thanks again for being so cool about this,” Virgil said. “I know this isn’t the most ideal, I just don’t have anyone else who can watch him, and-” 

“No worries at all, Virge,” Roman said with a smile. Virgil found himself smiling back, despite the treacherous flip of his stomach at the unexpected nickname. 

_Stop it_ , he internally chided himself. _He’s probably not even into guys. Let it go._

And for the most part, Virgil could. The project wasn’t that hard with the two of them working on it...in fact, he and Roman worked really well together. Their strengths and weaknesses complimented one another well, and the two fell into an easy, comfortable rhythm of working and chatting, Virgil actually completely lost track of the time until Patton came over and tugged on his shirt.

“Daddy?” 

“Yeah buddy, what’s up?” he asked, setting down his pen and looking down at Patton. 

“The music looped all the way around.” 

“Oh!” Virgil’s eyes widened as he looked up at the clock. “Oh, I didn’t realize we’d been working so long, I…” he looked back to Roman. 

They had only a few things to finish up before they’d be at a good stopping point, but it was about time that Virgil found Patton something to eat, and it wouldn’t be very fair to Roman to make him wait for that, and besides, Virgil had been enjoying their time so much… 

“Would you like to stay for dinner?” he asked, the words surprising him almost as soon as they’d left his lips. By the look on Roman’s face, he was surprised too, but not in a bad way. 

“Are you sure?” Roman asked. “I can get out of your hair here, I don’t want to cause any problems…” 

“It’s no problem at all,” Virgil said quickly. “I can order a few pizzas. It’s the least I can do to thank you for being so cool with all of this.” 

“Pizza!” Patton shrieked with delight, and Roman chuckled. 

“Well, I suppose I can be persuaded to stay for pizza,” he said. 

“Cool, is pepperoni okay?” Virgil asked, and Roman nodded. 

Virgil put the order in, and the three of them migrated to the couch for the evening. Patton was enamored with Roman, and asked him dozens of questions, none of which Roman seemed to mind answering. The pizza came, and at Patton’s request, Moana was queued up on Netflix. Patton sang along gleefully with the soundtrack, but as Virgil leaned back on the couch, he heard another voice, quietly intermingling with Patton and the film. Virgil looked over at Roman, whose eyes were glued to the screen.

“See the line where the sky meets the sea, it calls me,” he sang quietly, almost to himself. “And no one knows….” 

Roman caught Virigl’s glance and cut himself off, pink spreading across his cheeks, but Virgil just smiled.

“If the wind in my sail on the sea stays behind me,” he sang, and Roman’s eyes widened. “One day I’ll know…” 

“If I go, there’s just no telling how far I’ll go,” Roman joined him at the end of the chorus, and Patton clapped his hands. 

“Singalong!” he cheered, and really, how could Virgil refuse him? 

The three of them sang through the whole movie together, and then through all of Frozen before Patton’s eyelids started to droop. 

“Okay, buddy, bedtime,” Virgil said, scooping his son into his arms. “Say goodnight to Roman, okay?”

“Night, Rom’n,” Patton murmured around a yawn, leaning his head on Virigl’s shoulders. 

“Goodnight, Patton,” Roman said, ruffling Patton’s curls fondly. “Thank you for a fantastic movie singalong!” 

Virgil carried Patton into his room and quickly got him changed into pajamas and tucked into bed. 

“Sweet dreams, kiddo,” he whispered on his way out of the room. 

“Well, thank you for a lovely time,” Roman said when Virgil rejoined him in the living room. “Though I should probably get heading home now.” 

“Yeah, sorry to keep you so late,” Virgil said, but Roman just shook his head. 

“No problem at all, there’s not another way I’d have preferred to spend my evening. We should do it again sometime!” 

“We should!” Virgil agreed, smiling even as internally his brain kicked over into full Gay Panic Mode. 

Roman gathered up his things, and after making plans to meet again during the week to work on their project, left the apartment, leaving Virgil alone for the first time all day. 

“Hoooooooooo boy,” Virgil muttered, scrubbing at his eyes with the heels of his hands. Roman was not only hot, he was sweet, kind, _fantastic_ with Patton, fun to hang out with, and _totally_ out of Virgil's league. 

_I’m too gay for this._

But whatever. It would be fine, this project wouldn’t last forever. Virgil just had to survive until it was over, and then everything would be fine. 

Except it wasn’t. The project ended, but he and Roman just...kept hanging out. Usually at Virgil’s place, but sometimes he’d take Patton with him over to Roman’s, or the three of them would go somewhere together. Virgil kept expecting Roman to get sick of accommodating Patton or lose interest in their friendship (because it was a _friendship_ , no matter how much Virgil’s traitorous heart yearned it could be more) and stop coming around, but he never did. And despite Virigl’s Gay Panic, just hanging out with Roman at all was...really nice. Virgil hadn’t felt this comfortable around another person in a long time, and before long, Virgil honestly considered Roman his best friend, hopeless crush or not. 

Then, one night, Roman texted Virgil a selfie. 

Gold eyeshadow and sharp eyeliner rimmed his eyes, and his lips were a bold red color. He wore a crisp white dress shirt and what looked like red leather pants from what Virgil could see, and it was captioned “do i look ok??” 

Virgil took a moment to catch his breath before sending a response. 

_yeah, man. U clean up nice._

Virgil thought about asking what Roman was all dressed up for, but decided against it. He had a hunch, anyway, and didn’t particularly feel like getting confirmation. 

Not long after getting Roman’s text, Virigl put Patton to bed and settled down on the couch for a quiet evening. Before an hour had passed though, a knock came from the door. Virgil frowned; it was highly unusual to get an unexpected visitor at this time of night. He cautiously approached the front door and peered through the peephole, then gasped, pulling the door open. 

Roman stood at the doorstep, his hair sticking up in all directions, still dressed as though he were going out for a night of clubbing. 

“Hi,” he said bluntly when Virgil opened the door. “Please tell me you have alcohol.” 

Virgil, who was in fact halfway through his own glass of self-pity wine, nodded mutely and stepped aside, allowing Roman to enter the apartment. He poured Roman a glass, topped off his own, and the two settled down onto the couch. Roman took a long sip from his wine, and Virgil watched him carefully. 

“So...is everything okay?” he asked eventually, and Roman sighed. 

“God, I’m sorry, I don’t know why I even came here, I just stormed out of the bar and started walking, and I guess I realized I was near your neighborhood and just thought…”

“Hey, you know you’re welcome here anytime,” Virgil reassured. “But what _happened?_ ” 

“Blind date,” Roman said with another sigh. “I have a friend who likes to set me up. She’ll literally just give my picture to any guy she meets who’s gay and shorter than me.” He shook his head. “Not _exactly_ strict criteria. I only go to keep her off my back about it, but they always suck.” 

Virgil nodded, though internally, his brain had screeched to a halt. He had said...he said...did that mean he was…? 

“Just ‘cus I’m gay doesn’t mean I’m just down for casual hookups whenever, ya know? _Some_ of us would actually like to get serious with someone, maybe settle down.” 

A hundred thoughts went flying through Virigl’s head all at once, but what he ended up saying out loud was:

“I get it, man. My dates never go much further than _I’m twenty-three and my son is four.”_

Roman winced. 

“Yeah, I can’t imagine that’s fun.” 

“It’d be fine if people would just _chill_ about it,” Virgil scoffed. “But _no_ , everyone is always like ‘oh, I’m so sorry, that must be so hard to _deal_ with, oh you’re such a saint for _putting up with that_.” Virgil shook his head, and took another sip of wine. “I don’t _put up_ with Patton, he’s...he’s the best thing in my life. Taking care of him is my number one priority, and I don’t understand why people don’t _get that.”_

“He’s your family,” Roman murmured. “Of course he’s the most important thing to you.” 

Virgil nodded, and leaned his head back on the couch. 

“I just...I want to give him everything I never had. A loving family, a happy childhood, all that. He makes every day brighter just by smiling at me, how anyone could look at him and just see a _burden_ …” Virgil shook his head. 

“Man,” Roman sighed. “Why can’t I just find a guy like you?” 

Virgil froze. 

Had he heard that right? There was no way he had, the wine must have just been playing tricks on his perceptions. And evidently on his filter, too, because he found himself responding;

“I’m a guy like me.” 

“Yeah,” Roman said, sighing yet again. “But like, also gay? And into me? Too good to be-” 

_“I’m a guy like that,”_ Virgil interrupted, and Roman sat bolt upright upright. 

“Wait…” He haphazardly put his wineglass down on the coffee table and stared at Virgil. “Wait, you’re...you’re into...but Patton…” 

“I mean, I used to think I was bi in highschool,” Virgil explained. “But...no, I’m sure now, I...I’m _definitely_ gay.” 

“And...you’re also into…” Roman gestured at himself, as though he couldn’t bring himself to say it, and Virgil nodded. 

“Pretty much...since the first night you came over,” he admitted, and Roman threw his head back and laughed. 

“You’re kidding me! You’re telling me this whole time we’ve been being cute and domestic we could have also been gay? How did this never come up before?” 

“I don’t know.” Virgil suddenly felt giddy, and he laughed too. “I’ve spent this whole time convincing myself I had no chance with you.” 

“Me too,” Roman said breathlessly. “Man, what a pair of useless gays we turned out to be, huh? Think of all the missed opportunities!” 

“I mean…” Virgil swallowed. “Maybe they’re not _completely_ missed?” 

A slow smile spread across Roman’s face. 

“I suppose not...I mean, we have time, right?” 

Virgil grinned. 

“Definitely.” 

* * *

* _Epilogue_ * 

Virgil was shaking with anticipation as he headed towards his front door. Patton’s grip on his hand was firm and familiar, and he was chatting away about what had happened at school that day, but Virgil was barely listening. He was far too distracted by the package he had hidden under his jacket. It had finally come in this morning, which meant that today was the day. 

He pushed the door open, letting go of Patton’s hand so the small boy could run into the apartment. 

“Ro!” Patton exclaimed! “I’m home from school, Ro!” 

“Patton!” Roman cried, bending and catching the boy in a hug. “How wonderful to see you! I can’t wait to hear all about it!” 

Virgil smiled fondly at his boys, before he leaned over and gave Roman a kiss hello.   
  
“Actually, Patton, before we talk about school...I have something I want to give you.” Virgil pulled the package out of his jacket with trembling fingers. “It’s a new book...I thought maybe the three of us could read it together?” 

“Storytime!” Patton cried happily, and the three of them settled down on the couch. 

“Okay,” Virgil said, taking a deep breath. “This story is called _The Prince and the Secret Quest.”_

“Hooray!” Patton cheered, and Virgil planted a kiss on his head before he began to read. 

“Once upon a time there was a kind prince who would go on quests to help the people of his kingdom. He was brave and would travel any distance to ensure that everyone was safe and happy, even if he didn’t know how far a quest would take him. Sometimes he had to ask for help, turning to others around him when he needed them. One day he was asked to find someone in town who could help him on a special secret quest. He asked the Baker, but he was too busy making bread. He asked the Smith, but he was too tired from metalworking. He asked the Potter, but he was too dirty and covered in clay. He finally went to the Weaver, who had just finished making his cloth.” 

Virgil glanced up at Roman, who had raised an eyebrow at the mention of the “Weaver” character, no doubt thinking of Virgil’s own last name. Virgil just smiled at him and continued reading. 

“The Weaver was afraid to work with the prince. He was afraid of what the secret quest would hold and of what the Prince would think of him, when so many had cast him aside before. But the Prince was kind and strong, and told the Weaver that no matter what, he would be there to protect him. The two of them had to figure out how to work together, helping each other whenever they could and always making sure the other was safe and happy. They returned from the secret quest, and the Prince was very thankful for the Weaver’s help. The Weaver was thankful that the Prince had kept his word to him, and decided to ask for a reward for helping him. The Prince told him he could have anything he asked for. The Weaver asked if he could stay by the Prince’s side forever, and always go on his quests with him, because he knew that the Prince was his happily ever after.” 

Virgil looked up at Roman, who was staring at him with wide, glassy eyes. 

“Virgil,” he whispered, but Virgil just smiled and reached into his pocket, pulling out a ring box. 

“So...will the Prince stay with the Weaver forever?” he asked, kneeling down and opening the box. 

Roman yanked him forward into a tight hug, squishing Patton in between them. Patton shrieked with delight, and wrapped his little arms around the two of them as tightly as he could. 

“ _Yes_ ,” he whispered. 

“And they lived happily ever after!” Patton cheered, and Virgil grinned. 

“They will, Pattycake. They will.”


End file.
